Well, it seems Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow, so we
will all be cozying up inside for another six weeks of winter. Not to worry, our third graders have plenty
of engaging topics to keep them busy.
Our Newbery program is off to a flying start with students
eagerly shuffling from class to class each morning in search of their next
great read. It is wonderful to hear them
enthusiastically recommend books to each other for the program. We will enhance our reading comprehension
strategies this month through visualizing, questioning, summarizing, and making
inferences and predictions related to the texts we read. These will be regularly employed as we draw
conclusions, recognize cause and effect, and identify main idea and supporting
detail in stories. As authors, we are
turning our attention to persuasive writing.
We will back our strong opinion statements (or theses) with reasons,
detail and examples, which are sure to make you see the world our way! Our independent writing will also be
bolstered as we pen another GO Write! for homework.
Math finds us working hard to master our multiplication
facts. For some of us this means a
straight memorization of the facts. For
others, it means becoming efficient in using strategies to find the
product. For example, since we all know
our “5” facts so well, we can use those to help us solve for “6” facts. If 5 x 6 = 30, then 6 x 6 will be just one
more 6, so 36. Mastery of these facts
will then be used to help us multiply ones, tens and hundreds mentally, before
we turn our focus to division. Please
continue to help your students master their multiplication facts and retain
their addition and subtraction facts.
Flash cards or commute time quizzing are a quick easy way to keep the
facts fresh in your mathematicians head.
In social studies, we continue to study the early people who
moved here, why they came, and how they interacted with the others and the
land. Our work provides the opportunity
for us to closely read a text and determine which facts are most
significant. We use these key ideas to
draw our own conclusions about many topics.
We are also gaining a sense of chronology as we plot key events from all
our units of study on a comprehensive timeline.
Next up in our exploration are the adventures of the trappers and
traders who came to Colorado to hunt for beaver, the Rendezvous where they
traded, and Bent’s Fort.
While in social studies we explore who moved to Colorado and
settled here long ago. Our service learning program helps us discover who
immigrates to Colorado in the present day. In this interdisciplinary program the students
share their own heritage, learn about immigration, and the path to
citizenship. On February 14, we will participate
in a Naturalization ceremony held at the History Colorado Center. The third
graders will sing a welcome song to the new citizens, lead the Pledge of
Allegiance, and create a special gift with Colorado symbols for the new
Americans. At school, we are hearing the
stories of some of our very own Graland staff who have gone through this
process. We would also be very excited
to have any family members or other Graland community members visit us and
share their stories of becoming citizens.
If you would be interested in sharing with us, please contact your
student’s teacher and she can provide you with some information to prepare for
the visit.
Each third grade will be hosting a Valentine’s Day party,
though at different times due to varying schedules. It is not required for your student to bring
valentines. However, if they do decide
to pass out these warm, fuzzy notes, please ensure they have one for every
classmate and the notes are candy free.
We hope you stay warm for this next six weeks of winter and
enjoy your students’ tales of life in third grade.
Sincerely,
The Third Grade Team
Calendar
February 14 – Valentine’s Day Party
February 14 – Naturalization Ceremony
February
20 & 21 – No School (President’s Day and Teacher Professional Development)
No comments:
Post a Comment